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Unlocked iPhone 4. Is it Worth It?

This week Apple finally came out and is now selling an unlocked version of the iPhone 4. At first thought, you may think that this is a good idea. But, when you really think about it, it may not be the best idea. First, let me explain what an unlocked iPhone is. Basically, with an unlocked phone, you can feel free to use it on different carriers. You are not locked into one carrier, say for example, AT&T or Verizon. You are also not locked into a contract. That is why locked phones are cheaper. It is because you are restricted to stay with one cell phone company for a period of time.

So, an unlocked phone does have an advantage in that you can be with other carriers. But in this case, with the iPhone 4, I can hardly find a reason for you to want to get this. First of all, an unlocked iPhone 4 will set you back a pretty penny, $649 for the 16 GB and $749 for the 32 GB. Definitely not cheap. Secondly, this unlocked iPhone 4 is GSM, meaning that you can only use it on AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States. And with the possibility of T-Mobile and AT&T merging in the next year, this makes it even less appealing.

So why would you want to get an unlocked iPhone 4? Well, the main reason would be is if you are a heavy international traveler. This is, in my opinion, the only good reason to get this iPhone. When you travel overseas with an unlocked iPhone you can then just use that countries GSM network, which in other countries, there are a lot of GSM networks and they are pretty much the standard. Versus if you were with AT&T and you wanted to travel overseas, you would be incurring some heavy charges trying to make calls and using your data.

So, is it worth it? Not really, unless you do plan to be making lots of international trips. To be honest, I am interested to see how this will sell in the US. There really isn’t much of a need for it here. What will be interesting to see is if international people will buy it from the US, being that this price is usually cheaper than what unlocked phones cost in their country.

Would you be interested in something like this? Hit us up in the comments.

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For Internationla People its a Great Deal and worth it! I am from Costa Rica and we have GSM network down here. If you buy a phone at that price you can use it here and pay 10$ a month 20$ with regular 256k internet speed. so its better, pay a little extra for the phone but have a cheap plan, works down here but not so much in the US, especialy when Factory Unlocked are + 1000$ if you buy them in stores here. Recomended for International Not so much for US

Actually there’s another really good reason to get this phone. If you talk on the phone and text very little and are satisfied with wi-fi alone for internet, this is a perfect way to have an iPhone and use a prepaid T-Mobile phone plan. With T-Mobile you can pay 10 cents per minute. If you talk for an hour a month, your iPhone costs $6.00 a month to use instead of $70. At $64/month savings, it doesn’t take long at all to make up the extra up-front cost.

There are other reasons you may want to consider buying an unlocked iPhone 4. I already have 2 iPhones with AT&T. 1 is out of contract iPhone 3GS, the other has a few months to go iPhone 4. I am considering making the move to Verizon at some point in the future. My son now needs a iPhone and I am adding him to my family plan as an additional line for $9.99 a month. If I buy a phone under contract for him I am now locked in for another 2 years with AT&T for the new iPhone, and then the single price of a single phone contract is way more than an additional line if my wife and I jump to Verizon)

Secondly that unlocked iPhone 4 will retain its value on the open market for sale to the rest of the world that wants an unlocked phone for use in their country. An un-jailbroken iPhone that won’t break every time you connect it to iTunes or if there is a system update, is a tremendous value to someone.